Michelle Piccinino has been appointed as the new Director for the Environment within the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) following a call for applications.

Michelle Piccinino has graduated as an architect and civil engineer from the University of Malta in June 1995. Since then she held several senior positions with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, including but not limited to being a member of advisory bodies to coordinating large scale and projects of national interest.

Her multidisciplinary approach has enabled her to adapt to the various cross-cutting-roles and to effectively and constantly involve the different stakeholders in the process. She has represented the Malta Environment and Planning Authority on various boards and committees and had a leading role in negotiations at high-level bi-lateral meetings.

During the past months Ms. Piccinino has been involved in the in the demerger process of MEPA and the eventual setup of the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), including the legislative and the administrative setup of the new authority.

She is married to Ivan and mother to Laura and Luca Aidan.

Nine new marine protected areas covering a total area of 3,450 kilometres squared around the Maltese islands have been proposed by Malta.

These marine protected areas were chosen to form part of the European Union’s Natura 2000 network (an ecological network of protected areas designed to protect the ecologically important habitats and species across Europe) and is based on the results of two EU LIFE+ projects, namely the LIFE+ MIGRATE and LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project.

These new sites are an addition to the five marine Natura 2000 sites already in place in Maltese waters, which were based primarily on the presence of Posidonia seagrass meadows.

The nine new sites reach beyond the immediate coastal waters and are within the Malta’s 25 nautical mile zone. Six of these sites were designated for the protection of seabird species, another site was designated for the protection of loggerhead turtle, while two more sites were chosen for seabirds as well as turtles and dolphins.

The EU LIFE+ MIGRATE project, which project has started in October 2012 and is ending in April 2016, aimed at identifying important areas for the loggerhead turtle (il-fekruna tal-baħar il-komuni) and of the bottlenose dolphin (id-denfil ta’ geddumu qasir) in Maltese waters. The project was led by the Environment and Resources Authority with the participation of KAI Marine Services (Spain) and the Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC), and the cofinancement of the Bank of Valletta (BOV).

Ms Carmen Mifsud, who was managing the MIGRATE project, said that “the surveys and scientific work carried out throughout the project helped to gather more information on loggerhead turtles and the bottlenose dolphin in Malta, as well as on whales and other dolphins, but it also helped to identify important areas which are hence being proposed as Natura 2000 sites”.

On the other hand, the related EU LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project  is the largest seabird conservation project carried out in Malta. Through extensive and innovative research, the project aimed at identifying areas at sea essential for three seabirds in Malta, namely the Yelkouan Shearwater (il-garnija), the Scopoli’s Shearwater (iċ-ċiefa) and the European Storm-petrel (il-kanġu).  This project was led by BirdLife Malta in collaboration with the Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA). The Environment and Resources Authority has indicated that “The Authority has worked with MSDEC and the LIFE+ Malta Seabirds project so as to propose sites important for such seabirds as Natura 2000 sites, and will now endeavour to work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the setting up of adequate and sustainable management measures for these sites”.

In this respect, it is common misconception that sites listed as protected areas are no-go areas. This is in fact not true; neither does it mean that no fishing can take place there. Malta is expected to monitor and manage these sites in a sustainable manner, making sure that protected populations in these areas are safeguarded for future generations.

The Environmental Resources Authority (ERA), which was recently set up as part of the Government’s plan to demerge Mepa, marked the occasion of Earth Day (22nd April). This was a great opportunity for ERA to provide information on the new Authority. Sixth-form students had the chance to get to know more about the EU funded projects administrated by ERA, including Life BaĦAR and Life+ Project Migrate, as well as EU’s wide Natura 2000 network of protected areas. Those who visited ERA’s stand were keen to know and understand more fully the Authority’s work, as representatives from ERA answered questions and queries put forward by the students. During the same event, experts from ERA held a talk on trade in endangered species.

This event was organised at the Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School in Naxxar by the Department of Environmental Science & the Green Committee at GCHSS in collaboration with the Directorate of Curriculum Management (MEDE). Representatives from ERA joined other NGO’s and entities from the University of Malta as they hosted stands and exhibited interesting information about the education for sustainable development.

The 4th of April will mark the start of the new Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) as the national regulator on the environment.

With a mission to safeguard the environment for a sustainable quality of life, ERA shall be maintaining consultation with all stakeholders so as to promote and instill sound environmental management.

ERA’s main goals are:

  • To mainstream environmental targets and objectives across Government and society;
  • To take the leading role in advising Government on environmental policy-making at the national level, as well as in the context of international environmental negotiations;
  • To develop evidence-based policy; backed by a robust data gathering structure; and
  • To draw up plans, provide a licensing regime and monitor activities having an environmental impact, and to integrate environmental considerations within the development control process.

The Authority was established by the new Environment Protection Act I of 2016 and its Board set up through Government Notice 132 of 2016.

Further information is available on the authority’s website era.org.mt or requested via email on [email protected]

For further information, please contact:

Claire Cordina Borg

Unit Manager National Affairs

Strategy & Communication Directorate

Environment and Resources Authority (ERA)

T: + 356 2292 3500   E: [email protected]  and  [email protected]